Three-quarters of U.S. teens say they don't drink

(HealthDay)—About three-quarters of American high school students say they don't drink alcohol, a new survey finds.

The top five reasons why teens said they don't drink are: it's illegal; it can harm health; it can affect their school grades; parents don't approve; and they don't want to be like others who drink.

The poll of 695 high school students also found that more than half said they'd be less likely to be friends with or date someone who is an underage drinker.

The survey findings were released by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as part of Red Ribbon Week (Oct. 21-25), a national campaign in which schools and communities help raise awareness about the dangers of drug and alcohol use among youth.

"As adults, we know how dangerous underage drinking is for our kids, but these new survey results show that teens are getting the message, too," MADD national president Jan Withers said in a news release from the group.

While the findings offer some positive news, underage drinking still results in the deaths of 4,700 young Americans each year. That toll is higher than for all other drugs combined, according to MADD.

That's why the group created a program called the Power of You(th), which is meant to help teens resist peer pressure to drink and to encourage nondrinking teens to influence other teens to avoid alcohol.

As part of Red Ribbon Week, MADD is encouraging teens to create a 15-second Instagram video that answers the question: "If you don't drink today, what could your tomorrow be?" Entries in The Power of You(th) National Teen Video Contest will be accepted until Dec. 20. The grand prize winner will receive $1,500, and the school with the most entries will also receive $1,500.

A new report indicates that more than one in five parents of teens aged 12 to 17 (22.3 percent) think what they say has little influence on whether or not their child uses illicit substances, tobacco, or alcohol. This report ...

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User comments

The sooner we can get that to 100% saying they don't drink, the better.

However, they need to learn that things are legal or illegal for a reason.

The goodness of something is not determined by whether a law says it is good or not.

Man made laws are flawed, therefore one cannot obtain moral standards from man made law, but rather from conscience and from God.

If the only reason you do or don't do something is because of it's legality or illegality, then you really aren't even making much of a moral decision, you are making a self-preservation decision, which is quite different.

A more decision is to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

A self preservation is to do the legal thing out of fear of consequences.

The two are not equal.

The natural consequences of consuming alcohol provide a moral standard through negative reinforcement. If you drink you will become an addict. You will abuse people. You may kill someone in an auto crash,etc

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